Material distributor and spreader



F. E. ARNDT BRIAL DISTRIBUTOR AND SPREADER May 10, 1938.

' MAT" Filed July 5, 1953 5 Sheets-Sheet l FQANKUN E AIZINDT fir M.17.77%

May 10, 1938. F. E. ARNDT MATERIAL DISTRIBUTOR AND SPREADER Filed July5, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 [/VVENTOE.

- FRANKLIN E. AIZNDT ATT'X May 10, 1938. F, ARNDT 2,116,504

MATERIAL DISTRIBUTOR AND SPREADER Filed July 5, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet 3zNl/E/VTOE.

FQANKLIN E. AIENDT,

Patented May 10, 19138 UNHTED STATES PATENT OFFICE MATERIAL DISTRIBUTORAND SPREADER Application July 5, 1933, Serial No, 679,019

34 Claims.

In the road building art, it is common practice to distribute or spreadroad building materials such as gravel, crushed or broken stone, asphaltor the like, from machines embracing a hopper mounted on a supportingframework including skids or rollers for travel along the prepared roadsurface, the hopper receiving the road materials from a truck or similarvehicle to which the spreading machine is attached by suitable draftdevices, the machine being towed by the vehicle as the latter travelsalong the roadway. The hopper of the spreading machine usually has anopen bottom and suitable discharge openings through the walls of thehopper through which openings the road materials are adapted to bedischarged, the discharge of materials being controlled by adjustablegates adapted to vary the area of the discharge openings. The roadmaterials are levelled by suitable level- 2 ing instrumentalities on themachine in order to provide a level layer of material as it is spreadfrom the hopper.

The present invention relates to a material distributor or spreader ofthis general type.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of an improved andeflicient broken stone distributor for roadways which is adapted to behauled by and behind a dumping truck to receive the broken stone orother material from the truck and discharge it to one side of theroadway while the truck remains for support and travel on such roadway.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved stonespreader for direct 1,7, ing material into a trench extendinglongitudinally along one side of a roadway.

More particularlyit is the object of the present invention to provide astone spreader adapted to be hauled by and behind a truck and to receivebroken stone or other material from the truck and discharge it to oneside of the roadway in a layer preparatory to widening a previouslybuilt roadway while the truck remains on the roadway for support andtravel therealong.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novelfeatures and combinations being set forth in the appended claims.

Generally speaking, the machine of the present invention embraces ahopper adapted to be detachably connected to and hauled by and behind adumping truck. The hopper has front and rear walls symmetrical withrespect to each other, and has an. open bottom between the walls andoffset to one side of the path of travel of the truck. A suitable framesupports the hopper for movement along the path of travel of the truck,with the open bottom in position to discharge material along a pathparallel to the first mentioned path of travel and at one side thereof.For service, the machine is provided with suitable haulage means, andwhen it is operated, the hopper is connected thereby to the truck inposition to receive material from the rear end of the truck duringtravel of the truck along the roadway.

The hopper of the machine is provided with a front discharge opening, anend discharge opening controlled by an adjustable gate, and anadjustable strike-off blade at the rear of the open bottom. Thedischarge openings are offset to one side of the path of travel of themachine,'in order that the materials in the hopper may be distributedalong one side of the roadway and a layer having uniform depth anduniform width.

The hopper and frame are provided with traction devices for supportingthe machine and enabling it to be drawn along the roadway. Thesetraction devices comprise rollers for use when the machine is travelingalong a hard surface, and skids or traction shoes for use when themachine is traveling over a soft surfacewhere the rollers alone wouldnot be sufficient to properly support the edges of the open bottom atdesired elevations. The rollers are mounted on the shoes or skids andnormally carry them slightly above the level of the surface over whichthe machine is traveling.

The details of the above, together with other details of theconstructions, will become apparent as the description proceeds, whentaken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in

which:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a material distributing or spreading machineillustrating the attachment and locking of the draft or haulage devices;

Fig. 2 is a front view thereof, the dotted lines indicating the positionof the rear wheels of a truck relative to the machine when the machineis connected to the truck;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the machine;

Fig. 4 is a view of one end of the machine, showing in dotted lines theposition of the truck emptying the materials into the machine, andshowing the machine in coupling position with the truck, with the frameof the machine in close engagement with the truck frame;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the opposite end of the machine from thatshown in Fig. 4, the coupling devices being removed;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view showing aw.

portion of the skid traction devices and the structure of a guard forthe wheels or rollers supporting the machine;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan view showing a different form of drawbarand mounting for the draft or haulage devices from the showing of Fig.1.

Fig. 8 is a sectional elevational view taken through the center of thehopper shown in plan in Fig. l, and looking from the rear toward thefront hitching end; and

Fig. 9 is a sectional elevational view taken through the center of theoff-set open bottom, and looking from the right toward the left asviewed in Fig. 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, a hopper iii of metalplates and reinforcing angle irons is shown supported on frameworkcomprising the supports H, H and diagonal braces I2, l2. This frameworkin turn is normally carried on spaced-apart rollers [3 arranged in pairsassociated with pairs of oppositely extending spaced-apart shoes I4, Hiwhich are adapted to extend longitudinally of the roadway, and project asubstantial distance forwardly and rearwardly of the hopper to renderthe spreader self-supporting on the roadway both when connected to ahauling vehicle and when disconnected therefrom.

The hopper Ill has a front wall l5 which is inclined downwardly andrearwardly. The rear wall it of the hopper H3 is inclined downwardly andforwardly. The front and rear walls are symmetrical with each other. Atone end of the hopper Iii, a vertical wall ll extends between the wallsl5 and i6.

Connecting the lower edges of the walls l5, l6

. and I1 is the closed bottom Wall l8, which inclines downwardly fromthe vertical wall ll to the edge l9 of the opening 26 in the bottom ofthe hopper [0 at that end thereof opposite the wall ll, said edge I 9being located closely adjacent to the hard surface of the roadway asshown in Fig. 5. The lower portion Ifia of the bottom slopes at agreater angle than upper portion I812. The lower right-hand rear portionof the front wall l5, as Viewed in Fig. 1 is cut away to form the edges2i and 22, the latter being in continuation of the edge It closelyadjacent to the surface of the roadway as shown in Fig. 5. The dischargeopening 2E] is off to one side of the roadway on which the stonespreader is adapted to travel.

It should be particularly understood that the hopper is adapted to behauled by and behind a dumping Wagon or truck to which the spreader isdetachably connected. For this purpose a pair of chains 26 is provided,the forward ends of which are connected to the frame of the truck andthe rear ends to a drawbar mounted on the hopper. The details of theconnection and manipulation of the chains for coupling will be broughtout hereinafter.

It should also be understood that the present improved stone spreader isparticularly useful in connection with the widening of previously builtor old roadways having hard surfaces such as those having crushed stonefoundations and finished on top with asphalt. At the edge of the hardsurfaced portion of the roadway a trench 21 may be dug longitudinallyand filled with crushed stone, as shown in Fig. 2, by means of thespreader shown in the accompanying drawings.

The spreader is connected to the dumping truck by means of the chains 26so that at all times the wheels of the truck and the wheels of thespreader, together with the runners or shoes thereof, will remain on thepreviouly built hard surfaced roadway. As shown by the dotted lines 28,28 in Fig. 2, the wheels of the truck may occupy positions on theroadway 29 approximately the same as the paths of the wheels or rollersI3 and the runners or shoes M. In other words, during operation of thespreader the runners approximately track the wheels of the haulingvehicle.

While the crushed stone container or box 30 of the dumping truck is inthe position shown in Fig. 4, and the rear gate 3! thereof is in openposition, the truck wheels may be supported on the hard surfaced roadway29 while the open bottom 20 in its laterally oifset position is inposition to deliver the material to the trench 21 which extendslongitudinally of the roadway as shown in Fig. 2.

In order to prevent crushed stone from rolling onto the surface of theroadway 29, a forwardly extending guard or cut-off plate 32 is provided.Whatever stone tends to roll under the hopper and forwardly of the edgesi9, 22 of the discharge opening 28, will be deflected into the trench2'! and consequently there will be no interference with the smoothtravel of the spreader along the roadway 29. That is to say,notwithstanding the elevation of the forward lower edge 2i of the openbottom, material discharged forwardly under such edge will be preventedby the guard plate 32, whose lower edge is closely adjacent the hardsurface of the roadway, from moving onto such hard surface and thereforeno discharged material will interfere with the front roller 13 locatednear the open bottom.

As an assurance that the wheels and runners will have free paths oftravel, the forward wheels and forward ends of the runners are enclosedin V-shaped guards 33, 33, each having a downwardly and forwardly closedtop plate 13 and each having a bottom road engaging sole plate 8! with avertical nosing wedge 82 extending upwardly therefrom.

The lower edge 34 of the end wall Ila is spaced above the road surface29 so as to permit the stone to spread freely to the outermost limits ofthe trench as shown at 35 in Fig. 2.

In order to regulate the depth of crushed stone laid down in the trench,a strike-01f plate 36 is provided at the rear of the open end of thehopper iii. Wing end plates 37 are pivoted at 38 to the rearwardlyextending vertical supporting plates 39, 39a which are rigidly securedto the hopper it. A reinforcing bar 10 is secured to the lower rearportion of the strike-off plate 36, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

Standards 42, 12 are mounted on the horizontal plate ll at the rear wallof the hopper, to the upper ends of which standards is pivoted at 3 atubular bearing it for the screw rod ifi. Crank arms 46 are connected tothe rod 45 to manually rotate the latter so as to advance or retract thescrew rod 45 through the tubular nut 41. The latter is pivoted at 8 tothe brackets 49 which are secured to the rear side of the strike-ofiplate 36. By turning the crank arms 46 the elevation of the strike-offplate 36 may be adjusted and consequently the crushed stone emergingfrom the discharge opening 20 may be stroked to secure the filling ofthe trench 26 to a predetermined depth. 1

It will be seen from the drawings that th outer supporting bracket 39has its lower edge located at a predetermined spaced distance above ahorizontal plane extending through the surface on which the rollers I3run, while the inner supporting bracket 39a is extended down intoproximity to such surface so as to act as a guard plate to preventcrushed stone from spreading onto the hard surface of the roadway. Inother words, by providing the plate 39a at the inner edge of the trench26 approximately in the plane of the cut-off plate 32, with the loweredge 85 in alinement with the inner edge I9 of the open bottom of thehopper, a vertical wall is formed for the inner end of the strike-offplate 35. Furthermore, the lower edge 22 of the forward guard plate isalso in alinement with the edge I9. The three lower edges I9, 85 and 22co-operate to cut off both forwardly and rearwardly of the open bottom,as well as under the same, the spreading of material onto the hardsurface of the roadway. I

Secured to the lower edge of wall I6 and to the upper edges of thevertical plates 39 and 39a. is a horizontal cross plate M to which aresecured the lower ends of the standards. The plate 4! extends rearwardlyfrom the rear edge 22 of the open bottom and acts as a reinforcing platefor the vertical plates 39 and 39a while also serving as a support forthe lower ends of the standards 42. Preferably the standards 42 arewelded to the plates 4|.

The crushed stone is dumped from the truck when the latter is in dumpingposition shown in Fig. 4; such stone slides along the closed bottom I8to the discharge opening 20, where it may spread outwardly under theedge 34 to fill the trench beyond as shown at 35. The stone also spreadsforwardly under the edge 2| but is prevented by the cut-ofi plate 32from spreading onto the hard surface 29 of the roadway where the stonemight interfere with the rollers I3 near the open bottom. The stone alsospreads rearwardly under the plate 4I into the confined space bounded onthe inner side by the guard plate 39a, on the outer side by the plate 39and at the rear by the strike-off plate 35. The lower edge of the plate39a is close to the hard surface of the roadway 29 and thereforeprevents spreading of the stone onto the latter. The plate 4I forms asuificient cover between the plates 39 and 39a. to prevent crowding ofthe material over the top of the strike-off plate as the spreader movesalong the roadway.

The flaring of the interior of the hopper is preferably so proportionedwith respect to the positions of the runners that the machine is alwayswell balanced. That is to say, suiiicient weight is maintained duringoperation on the left-hand rollers I3, Fig. 3, to keep it at all timeson the road 29. Tendency of the hopper to tilt towards the trench istherefore obviated. The runners I4 are sufficiently elongated to extendsubstantially beyond the front and rear walls of the hopper to enablerollers I3 to be positioned so as to maintain the hopper at all times instable equilibrium against forward or rearward tilting.

It should also be noted that while the accompanying drawings show aright-handed trench filler, the latter may be left-handed and in somecases such left-handed trench filler may be preferred because enablingthe driver of the truck to better assist in moving the truck and trenchfiller more accurately alongthe road edge of the trench. i

While mention has been made of crushed stone for filling a trench dugalongside an old roadway, it should be understood that the structureshown is also adapted to receive and distribute Various mixtures such asstone dust, water and crushed stone, which mixture after being directedinto the trench can be rolled into a compact trench to a predetermineddepth filler and then covered with molten tar or asphalt and rolledflush with the surface of the previously built roadway and therebyprovide a widening of the hard surfaced roadway. It will also be evidentthat brick, concrete, or other previously built roads may be widened byhaving trenches dug along one side or the other or on both sides andconcrete poured from a truck or mixer intothe hopper III while thelatter is being hauled along the inner edge of the trench with theopening 20 in the position shown in Fig. 2.

As the truck moves along while dragging the stone spreader by means ofthe chains 25, the hopper is held tightly against the frame of thetruck. Two ways of attaching the chains 26 to hopper Ill are illustratedin Figs. 1 and 4.' From either figure it will be seen that a drawbar 52extends along the front of the hopper. This drawbar 52 is T-shaped andhas its head welded to clevises 54 secured to vertical bracket plates55, 55 at each end of the hopper, through bolts 56, 55 passing throughthe respective plates 55. Inasmuch as the heights of the connections ofthe chains 26 to the dumping trucks may vary, it is desirable to haveaseries of perforations 51 in the plates 55. The plates 55 may be weldedto the hopper ends, or secured thereto in any other suitable manner. Theperforations 5'? enable a vertical adjustment of the drawbar 52. To eachend of the drawbar is secured a bracket 58 having, as shown in Fig. 5, anotch 59 therein,the notch being vertically elongated to accommodate avertical link 59a of the chains 26, while preventing passage of ahorizontal link 60 therethrough.

The T-shaped drawbar 52 comprises a horizontally extending flange BIhaving several series of holes 62 therethrough. As illustrated, a seriesof these holes is adjacent each end of the flange 5! and there is athird series about the middle of the flange. Suitably positionedrelative to the drawbar in Fig. 1 are clevises 63, 53, which carry rings54, s4 and which are bolted to the flange 5| by bolts 65, 55 extendingthrough selected holes 62. Rings 64 may thus be positioned as desiredalong the drawbar GI, and the chains 26 are passed through these rings,thus distributing the force of the pull of the truck between the bolts65 and brackets 58. Or, as in Fig. 4, the chains 26 may be connected attheir rear ends to clevises 66, 65 (Fig. '7) held in position by bolts61'. 61 extending through selected holes 62. The extra series of holesillustrated in the flange 6! in Figs. 1 and 7 may be used for theattachment of a third chain, if desired. The embodiment of Fig. 1 ispreferred, owing to the fact that the strain of the pull exerted by thetruck is distributed between two points on each chain, whereas in Fig.7, the bolts 61 receive the entire strain and there is. accordingly,greater possibility of the bolts 5'! shearing off during operation ofthe machine. Chains 26 are provided with hooks 58 for attachmer t to thetruck. By securing the hopper tightly against the truck frame, tendencyof the hopper to sway or swerve laterally as it is pulled along aroadway is overcome, while the contact points between the forward upperedge of the hopper and the truck frame may serve as pivot points topermit limited tilting of the hopper as the rollers or runners move overirregularities in the hard surfaced roadway.

It will also be observed that the standards II comprise cooperatingangles 69, 6911., 10 and ma each pair of which cooperates to form achannel. These standards are provided on the front and rear walls of thehopper and form supports for the shoes or runners l4, as will be obviousfrom the drawings. Rollers l3 are mounted between these runners adjacenteach end thereof and also between the runners below the bottom I8 of thehopper, as will be apparent from Figs. 3 and 4, thus supporting thehopper and runners up from the surface of the roadway when the latter ishard enough to sustain the weight of the hopper and load. When thesurface is too soft therefor, the rollers sink in and the hopper issupported by both the rollers and the runners l4 but mainly by thelatter. The rollers, reducing friction, materially reduce the powerrequired to pull the machine along the roadway when acting to supportthe hopper. As has been previously mentioned, forward and rear tiltingof the hopper relative to the supporting surface is prevented by theextension of the runners forwardly and rearwardly of the hoppersufiiciently to produce stable equilibrium.

The V-shaped devices 33 each having'vertical side plates 83, 83connected by a sharp vertical nose 82 act as plows to deflect loosematerial on the surface of the road, away from the rollers, preventingsuch material from interfering with the travel of the rollers along theroadway. These devices 33 have rearwardly extending arms 'II, II,pivoted at 12 to the runners l4, enabling limited up and down movementof the devices as the triangular sole plates 8| slide over the hardsurface of the roadway. The covers 13 prevent loose material fromfalling between the devices and the foremost rollers.

The trench end plate l'la. of the hopper has an opening (4 therethrough,communicating with the open bottom of the hopper under the outer edge34, allowing material to be discharged through the outer end of thehopper as well as through the bottom and front wall. The area of thisopening is controlled by a gate 75, generally rectangular in form andextending beyond the front and rear walls l5, 16, of the hopper, as willbe apparent from Fig. 5. For controlling the amount of material passingthrough the opening 14, the gate 15 is provided with a plurality ofvertical series of holes 76, each adapted to register successively witha corresponding opening in plates 1'! welded to the hopper it and plate39, and in the plate 55, as gate 15 is vertically moved. Bolts 78inserted in these openings hold gate 15 in predetermined adjustment withthe lower edge of the plate at adjusted elevation. Plates ll serve asfillers in the space between the end plate I la and the gate 15, causedby the interposition therebetween of a plate 55.

It should be particularly noted that the bottom l8 of the hopper slopesgradually from one side of the roadway to the lower edge l9 closelyadjacent to the hard surfaced roadway near the trench as shown in Fig.2. It is obvious by reference to the dotted lines in Fig. 2 that theposition of the hauling vehicle is such that material may be dumpedtherefrom throughout the entire width thereof, but when desired themaximum amount of material may be directed from the truck to thatportion I; of the bottom [8. The slope of the bottom portion I80. isgreater than the angle of repose of the material so that gravity willmove such material into the trench, although such movement is retardedby friction. Since the material is free to spread outwardly under thelower edge of the plate 75 and forwardly under the edges 2|, 2|, of thedownwardly and forwardly inclined plate 84, to properly fill the trenchfor stroking by the strike-off blade 36, forward movement of the towingtruck is required while the material is being discharged from theinclined bottom portion l8w to the discharge orifice or open bottom.However, if the towing vehicle should stop while material is in thehopper, and such material should continue to flow out from the openbottom of the hopper, such flow would be limited by the lower edge ofthe outer plate 15 and by the edge 2| which when engaged by the materialwill automatically lock the latter against any further fiow until thetowing vehicle is started up again. But in any event, Whether the hopperis being towed along the roadway or whether it is standing still, nomaterial would be spread onto the hard surfaced roadway because of theclose proximity of the lower edge l9 of the inclined bottom portion |8ato such hard surfaced roadway and because of the close proximity of thelower edges and 22 of the guard plates 39a and 32 (Figs. 5 and 9) to thehard surfaced roadway. Fig. 1 shows clearly that the guard plates 32,39a are in longitudinal alinement with the lower edge E9 of the inclinedbottom portion l8a.

A plate 19 is welded to the underside of the bottom plate Ida of thehopper to reinforce such bottom plate. Plate i9 is bolted by bolts 80 toa runner It, as shown in Fig. 4, to eifect support of the inner edge [9of the open bottom closely adjacent the surface of the roadway.

When coupling the machine to the truck, the truck is stopped with aclearance between the truck and machine for the operator to hook thechains to the truck axle, or any convenient place on the truck. Theoperator stands to one side and draws the slack chain through therespective rings or loops 64 until the truck is backed tightly againstthe drawbar 52. The operator then slips the chain into the respectivenotches 59 of the blocks, or brackets, 58, to effect holding of theforward upper edge of the hopper against the rear end of the frame ofthe truck.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in thedetails and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and Iwish therefore not to be restricted to the precise construction hereindisclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of my invention, what Idesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A road widening spreader comprising a hopper having an open topextending transversely of a roadway and an open bottom at one side ofthe roadway, spaced-apart elongated runners extending longitudinally ofthe roadway, a plurality of spaced-apart rollers for each of saidrunners, said rollers being both laterally and longitudinally spaced tosupport the runners above a relatively hard surface on which thespreader travels, and means for securing said runners to said hopper inposition to prevent tilting of said hopper while receiving materialthrough said open top and discharging material through said open bottom.

2. A road widening spreader comprising a hopper having a free andunobstructed open bottom surrounded by the hopper walls extendingupwardly from such open bottom, said open bottom being in position tomove along a path at one side of a roadway and parallel thereto, whileroad material fills the hopper and is moving by gravity out of suchbottom, self-supporting means comprising a plurality of spaced-apartrollers for enabling said hopper to travel along said roadway with itsopen bottom serving to discharge by gravity the material downwardly in apredetermined course, and means for regulating the depth of the courseof material laid down by such movement by gravity through and out fromsaid free and unobstructed bottom.

3. A road widening spreader for filling a trench at one side of aroadway, comprising a hopper having an open bottom offset to one side ofthe roadway, means for supporting said hopper for travel along suchroadway while said offset open bottom occupies a position above saidtrench, a vertical plate, and means for adjustably securing said plateto the outer side of said hopper with the lower edge of said platespaced above said trench an adjusted distance to form the outer edge ofsaid open bottom.

4. A road widening spreader comprising a hopper having an offset openbottom and a discharge opening in the rear wall of the hopper at therear edge of said open bottom, spaced-apart parallel plates extendingrearwardly from said hopper, a rear connecting plate at the rear ends ofsaid parallel plates, and a guard plate extending rearwardly from theouter end of said hopper and adjustably secured to the outer parallelplate.

5. A road material spreader comprising a hopper having an oifset openbottom and a discharge opening in the rear wall of the hopper at therear edge of said open bottom, parallel spacedapart vertical platesprojecting rearwardly from said open bottom, a cross-plate connected tosaid parallel plates and extending rearwardly from said hopper, anadjustable strike-off plate associated with said cross-plate, and anadjustable spreader plate associated with the outer parallel verticalplate.

6. A material spreader comprising a hopper having an open bottom and adischarge opening in the rear wall of the hopper, strike-off mechanismin position to regulate the depth of material after discharge from saidopening, an adjustable plate at the outer end of the hopper with itslower edge forming the outer edge of said bottom, and means for securingsaid plate to said hopper at adjusted elevation to permit adjustment ofelevation of the outer edge of said bottom.

'7. A road material spreader comprising a hopper having an open bottomand including an outer end wall, an adjustable vertical plate having alength greater than the length of said open bottom, and means forsecuring said plate to i said end wall at adjusted elevation with thelower edge of said plate forming the outer edge of said open bottom andextending forwardly and rearwardly of said open bottom.

8. A road material spreader comprising a hopper having an open bottomwith its inner edge adjacent to the surface on which the spreader issupported, a vertical guard plate extending rearwardly from the hopperin alinement with said inner edge, the lower edge of said vertical guardplate being also adjacent to the surface on which the spreader issupported, a vertical plate forming the outer end wall of said hopperwith its lower edge in elevated position, a vertical supporting plateprojecting rearwardly from said hopper in alinement with said end walland with its lower edge in alinement with the lower edge of said endwall, a cross-plate connecting the vertical guard and supporting platesprojecting rearwardly from said hopper, a strike-off plate associatedwith the rear ends of said rearwardly projecting plates, means foradjusting said strike-off plate and holding the same in adjustedposition, a rectangular vertical plate at the outer end of the hopper toregulate the spreading of material outwardly from said open bottom, andmeans for securing said rectangular regulating plate at adjustedelevation to the said end wall with the lower edge of said rectangularregulating plate forming the outer edge of said open bottom andprojecting forwardly and rearwardly of said open bottom.

9, A road material spreader comprising a hopper, a frame for supportingsaid hopper including spaced runners adapted to slide upon a surface,spaced rollers on said frame in close association with said runners andadapted normally to support said runners above the surface when on ahard surface but capable of sinking into a soft surface to allowcontacting of said runners and said soft surface.

10. A road material spreader comprising a hopper, a frame for supportingsaid hopper including a runner extending both forwardly and rear- Wardlyof the bottom of said hopper, spaced rollers on said frame positionedboth forwardly and rearwardly of said bottom and adapted normally tosupport the hopper independently of the runner with said runner abovethe surface when on a hard surface but capable of sinking into a softsurface to allow contacting of said runner and said soft surface so thatthe rollers and runners then co-act to support the hopper.

11. A road material spreader comprising a hopper, a frame for supportingsaid hopper including a runner adapted to slide upon a surface, spacedrollers on said runner adapted normally to support said runner above thesurface when on a hard surface but capable of sinking into a softsurface to allow contacting of said runner and said soft surface.

12. A machine of the character described comprising the combination witha supporting frame, of a hopper carried by the frame, the hopper havingan open bottom, the said hopper laterally increasing in depth to provideroad clearance less at one end than at the other, discharge of roadmaterials being eifected through the portion of the hopper having theleast road clearance, an adjustable end gate for controlling lateraldischarge of materials from the hopper, and an adjustable strike-offplate for regulating the depth of the material discharged from thehopper.

13. A road material spreader comprising a hopper having an open bottomand including an outer end wall, an adjustable vertical plate, means forsecuring said plate to said end wall at adjusted elevation with thelower edge of said plate forming the outer edge of said open bottom,frame-work for supporting said hopper for movement along the roadwaywith the inner edge of said open bottom closely adjacent to the level ofthe road surface, and haulage mechanism extending from said frame-workfor connection to a truck traveling on the roadway.

14. A road widening spreader comprising frame-work for self-support on ahard surfaced roadway while connected to and hauled by and behind adumping truck traveling on such hard surfaced roadway, an open bottomedhopper secured to said frame-work to form a rigid unit therewith withthe open bottom of the hopper offset relative to said frame-work tooccupy a position above a shoulder at one side of the hard surfacedroadway, the inner edge of the open bottom being closely adjacent to thelevel of the roadway to cut off spreading of material on to said hardsurfaced roadway by confining the spreading to said shoulder, andadjustable mechanism for regulating the spreading of the material fromsaid open bottom both outwardly and rearwardly and thereby securing thelaying down on the shoulder of a course of material of predeterminedwidth and depth while the towing truck remains on the hard surfacedroadway traveling along the said roadway to tow the spreader and effectdischarge of the material from the open bottom thereof on to saidshoulder along one side of the roadway.

15. A road widening spreader comprising a hopper having an open topextending transversely of the roadway in position to receive materialfrom a dumping truck, said hopper also having an open bottom offset tooccupy a discharging position along one side of the roadway, means forsupporting said hopper in the aforesaid position comprising a pluralityof rollers distributed both laterally and longitudinally relative to thehopper to prevent tilting of the latter either longitudinally ortransversely of the roadway during spreading operations along one sideof the roadway as aforesaid, and haulage connections between the hopperand said truck for towing the spreader while in the aforesaid positionrelative to said truck.

16. In a material spreader, the combination with an open top and adischarge opening below said open top, of means comprising two series ofrollers for supporting said spreader on a hard-surfaced roadway, and twoV-shaped devices one in advance of each series of rollers for deflectingsidewise loose material on the roadway so as to assure smooth paths oftravel for said rollers.

17. A road material spreader comprising a hopper having a bottom slopingdownwardly from one side to the other, means providing a dischargeopening adjacent the lowermost side of the said hopper with the innerwalls of the hopper extending upwardly from the lower edges of saidopening, said sloping bottom being adapted to direct material from thehopper into said opening and thence directly onto the roadway bygravity, a frame for supporting said hopper, and a plurality of rollersunder said frame in position to give both lateral and longitudinalstability to the spreader and support the hopper on the roadway wherethe lower edges of said opening shall be spaced above the roadway.

18. A road material spreader comprising a hopper having a bottom slopingdownwardly to an open bottom having its inner edge closely adjacent thesurface of the roadway, a frame for supporting said hopper, spaced-apartelongated runners rigidly connected to said frame and spaced from saidopen bottom so as to occupy positions above the road surface while saidopen bottom overhangs the shoulder of the roadway, said hopper and frameand runners being rigidly connected together in a single unit, aplurality of rollers distributed along each of said runners andconnected thereto to support the runners up off the roadway when thesurface of the latter is relatively high, said rollers being adapted tosink into relatively soft roadway surfaces to permit said runners toengage such relatively soft surfaces and co-operate with said rollers tosupport the frame and hopper on the roadway, and haulage mechanismextending from said rigid unit for connection to a draft vehicle.

19. A road material spreader comprising a hopper having a bottom slopingdownwardly from one side to the other, means for providing a dischargeopening adjacent the lowermost side of said hopper, a frame forsupporting said hopper, spaced-apart elongated runners rigidly connectedto said frame and said hopper in one rigid unit, rollers closelyassociated with said runners to support the latter up off the roadsurface when the latter is relatively hard, the spaces adjacent saidrunners on both sides thereof under the hopper being free andunobstructed, and V- shaped deflectors at the front ends of said runnersin position to deflect laterally loose material on the roadway to assuresmooth passageways for said rollers.

20. A road material spreader comprising a hopper with an offset openbottom with its lower edges adapted to be located closely adjacent theupper surface of the shoulder of the roadway, a frame for supportingsaid hopper for towing by a draft vehicle, haulage connections extendingfrom said frame and adapted to be secured to such draft vehicle, and aplurality of rollers under said frame having paths of travel on theroadway and spaced laterally from, the path of travel of the open bottomoverhanging the shoul der of the roadway, the lower edges of said openbottom extending upwardly along the inner walls of the hopper to afforda. free and unobstructed passageway for material in the hopper directlytherefrom to said shoulder while such material is being delivered fromsaid hopper and spread onto such shoulder by the draft vehicle towingthe spreader along the roadway While supported l by said rollers asaforesaid.

21. A road material spreader comprising a hopper, mechanism affording adischarge opening operable by movement of the spreader along the roadwayto deliver and spread material, a frame for supporting said hopper, aplurality of elongated runners rigidly connected to said frame and saidhopper to form a single rigid unit, said runners extending forwardly andrearwardly sufficient distances to prevent tilting when the spreader istowed by a draft vehicle, and a plurality of rollers closely associatedwith said runners both forwardly and rearwardly thereof to enable saidspreader to have a high degree of both lateral and longitudinalstability although the hopper may be unevenly loaded.

22. A road material spreader comprising a hopper having an open top andan offset open bottom adapted to overhang the shoulder of aroadwaywiththelower edges of said hopper at said open bottom locatedadjacent such shoulder, a frame for supporting said hopper, and aplurality of rollers under said frame for supporting the hopper on thehard surface of the roadway while such open bottom overhangs saidshoulder as aforesaid, some rollers being located under the forward andrear edges of the hopper and other rollers being located under thecentral portion of said hopper spaced laterally from the path of travelof said open bottom, the distribution of the rollers being such as tosupport the hopper and frame on the hard surface of the roadway with ahigh degree of both lateral and longitudinal stability when the hopperis variously loaded and when the spreading of the material on theshoulder offers variable resistance to a rectilinear path of travel forthe spreader as a unit.

23. An apparatus for depositing road material along a roadway,comprising a hopper for material and having a discharge orifice fordischarging material onto the road, a support for the hopper including apair of runners each having a roller at the front end thereof, adefiector plate extending forwardly from the inner edge of the orificelongitudinally of the roadway, and deflectors in advance of the runnersand said front rollers for moving loose material on the road out of thepath of the rollers and the runners.

24. An apparatus for depositing road material along a roadway,comprising a hopper for material and having a discharge orifice fordischarging material onto the road, the inner edge of said orifice beingclosely adjacent the surface of the road, mechanism comprising a runnerspaced inwardly from said inner edge for supporting the hopper on theroad, a deflector piv,

oted to the front end of said runner in scraping contact with theroadway for moving to one side loose material on the roadto assure asmooth passageway for said runner, and a vertical deflector plateextending forwardly from said inner edge of the orifice in position toprevent loose material acted on by said deflector from moving into thepath of said orifice.

25. In a material spreader, the combination with a hopper, of supportingmechanism therefor comprising spaced-apart runners with rollers at thefront ends of the runners, V-shaped deflectors at the front ends of saidrunners adjacent to said rollers in position to deflect loosematerial onthe roadway out of the paths of said rollers and said runners.

26. In a material spreader, the combination with a hopper, of mechanismfor supporting the same comprising spaced runners, and deflectorspivotally connected to said runners to act in advance thereof to scrapeloose material on the roadway to one side out of the paths of saidrunners. i

27. In a material spreader, the combination with a hopper, of mechanismfor supporting said hopper comprising spaced runners, V-shapeddeflectors mounted at the front ends of said runners and each having adownwardly and forwardly inclined closed top, and means connecting saiddeflectors to said runners to be pushed forward along the roadwaythereby.

28. In a spreader, the combination with a hopper, mechanism forsupporting said hopper comprising road engaging rollers at the frontends of said runners, V-shaped deflectors at the front ends of saidrunners and each having a closed top, and means connecting saiddeflectors to said runners in position to cover said rollers.

29. In a material spreader, the combination with a hopper, of mechanismfor supporting the same comprising spaced runners with road engagingrollers at the front ends thereof, V-shaped deflectors each having aclosed top, and means pivoting said deflectors to said runners inpositions to cover said rollers and rest by gravity in scrapingpositions on the roadway to deflect loose material out of the paths ofsaid rollers and runners.

30. A road widening spreader comprising a hopper having an offset openbottom and a discharge opening below the rear edge of the open bottom,spaced-apart parallel plates extending rearwardly from said hopper, astrike-off plate mounted in position to act on the material passingthrough said discharge opening, and a guard plate mounted on said hopperfor adjustment in elevation relative thereto and extending rearwardlyfrom the outer end of said hopper.

31. A road material spreader comprising a hopper having an open bottomand a discharge opening under the rear edge of the open bottom, parallelspaced-apart vertical plates projecting rearwardly from said hopper, across-plate connecting said parallel plates, strike-off mechanismassociated with said parallel plates, and a spreader plate secured tosaid hopper with its lower edge in position to form the outer edge ofsaid open bottom.

32. A road material spreader comprising a hopper having an open bottomand including an outer end wall, a guard plate extending rearwardly fromthe inner edge of the open bottom, and a vertical plate having a lengthgreater than the distance between the front and rear walls of the hoppernear said open bottom and secured to said hopper to extend rearwardlyfor occupying a position opposite said guard plate and spaced therefrom.

33. A road material spreader comprising a hopper having an open bottomand including an outer end wall, a guard plate extending forwardly fromthe inner-edge of the open bottom, and a vertical plate having a lengthgreater than the distance between the front and rear walls of the hoppernear said open bottom and secured to said hopper to extend forwardly foroccupying a position opposite said guardplate and spaced therefrom.

34. A road widening spreader comprising a hopper having an open. top andan offset open bottom, the bottom wall of the hopper being downwardlyinclined to said open bottom, and a plate downwardly and forwardlyinclined from the lower edge of the front wall of said hopper at saidopen bottom.

FRANKLIN E. ARN'DT.

